Container Identification System

ABSTRACT

A customizable container is disclosed for personalizing and identifying bottles and cans. The customizable container comprises several raised portions associated with indicia such as letters, numbers, symbols, characters, phrases, etc. The raised portions can be depressed, creating a unique pattern or association with the indicia in order to distinguish the container from similar containers. The raised portions are arranged in a manner to encourage their use, such as placing them where the consumer will grasp the container.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not Applicable.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to container identification, and moreparticularly, to an identification and personalization system forbottles and cans.

DISCUSSION OF RELATED ART

Containers are generally used to hold and protect something fromexternal elements. Bottles are a type of container generally used toprotect liquids such as water, soda, wine, beer, milk, medicine,although they may contain solids or gases as well. Bottles are usuallyrigid containers with a narrow neck, an opening on the top, and arelatively larger body. Bottles are typically made from glass, plastic,aluminum, or other impervious materials. Bottles often have an externalbottle cap or lid designed to seal the opening and prevent the contentsfrom spilling.

Cans are another type of container generally used to hold, store, anddistribute liquids and solids, such as soda, beer, meats, vegetables,and various other items. In general, cans are made of aluminum, tin,steel, tin-plated steel, or other metals. Pull tabs, stay-on tabs, andpress button tabs are some of the most common mechanisms used to opencans.

When at an event, such as a picnic or party, it is common to providebeverages in bottles and cans. It is also common for the beverages to besimilarly labeled, as the organizer typically purchases the beverages inbulk. As such, when several participants leave their beverage unattendedin a common location, it is easy to confuse which beverage belongs towhich participant. The participants commonly dispose of the beverages inquestion, and obtain new beverages, only to misplace them again andrepeat cycle of waste. Several solutions have been developed to solvethis problem.

U.S. Patent Application No. US 2009/0194449 to Wu on Aug. 6, 2009,describes a beverage container with readily identifiable labels thatprovides a scratch-off film on an outside surface of a container body.The scratch-off film has a distinct color for eye catching and is easyto scratch off to provide a beverage container with an identificationmechanism. The scratch off film has an effective area that can bescratched off by a user to form an easily recognizable mark, such as afigure, a character, or a pattern to allow the user to identify theuser's own beverage among a number of identical beverage containers. Thepurpose of this invention is to provide a sanitary and safe form ofrecognition to prevent the waste of incompletely consumed beveragecontainers due to un-recognition.

U.S. Patent Application No. US 2009/0266735 to Moore on Oct. 29, 2009,describes a customizable beverage bottle label that provides a method ofidentifying the owner by providing an area on the beverage label forwriting a name, initials, or other identification indicia. The specificarea is added to the cylindrical beverage label of the beverage and canbe any size, shape, and distinction. The label material can be chosen byany individual beverage, label company, or corporation. The customizablearea of the label is incorporated into the layout and design of thelabel before printing and can be included on any area of the existinglabel.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,704,144 to Groth on Jan. 6, 1998, describes a beveragecontainer identification tag for attaching to a beverage container toallow a drinker or others to identify the ownership of the beveragestored in the beverage container. The tag includes a tag body made of athin strip of flexible material for wrapping around the beveragecontainer. The beverage container identification tag also includes adisplay area for the placement of a name or symbol. One end of the tagbody carries adhesive, which is used to connect that end to a selectedoverlapped location on the tag body after it is wrapped snugly aroundthe beverage container.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,086,702 to Rea on Jul. 11, 2000, describes a method forpersonalizing beverage containers by utilizing a removable field oflabels that can be placed anywhere on the container. A portion of thelabels are removed from the container, organized in a desired sequenceand remounted at a new location on the container. The labels are held tothe bottle using an adhesive.

While the above embodiments provide identification means for existingbottles and cans, their implementation methods are costly, inefficient,and require additional materials and adhesives. Therefore, there is aneed for a container that can be quickly and easily personalized withoutthe use of costly labels, materials, adhesives, or the like. The presentinvention accomplishes these objectives.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present device is a container that can be personalized to identifythe owner of the container. The container comprises an arrangement ofraised portions that are strategically placed on the container. Theraised portions will be placed where the user typically holds thecontainer, and thus encourages use by reminding the user to personalizethe container.

In use, the raised portions can be pressed and, with sufficientpressure, will be pushed in, going from a convex shape to a concaveshape. The tabs may also display a change in color, such as going fromclear to white. The pressed tabs will correlate with indicia on thecontainer, such as numbers, letters, phrases, characters, and the like.The user will press as many raised portions as necessary to distinguishtheir container from other similar containers.

The present invention is a container that can be quickly and easilypersonalized without the use of costly labels, materials, adhesives, orthe like. Other features and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent from the following more detailed description, taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way ofexample, the principles of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the invention, illustrated as a plasticbottle with a populated upper section;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the invention, illustrated as a plasticbottle with a populated upper section;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the invention, illustrated as a plasticbottle with a populated upper and lower section;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the invention, illustrated as a plasticbottle with a populated upper section;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the invention, illustrated as a can witha populated upper section;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the invention, illustrated as a can witha populated upper and lower section;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the invention, illustrated as a can witha populated upper, left, and right sections;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the invention, illustrated as a can witha populated lower section.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Illustrative embodiments of the invention are described below. Thefollowing explanation provides specific details for a thoroughunderstanding of and enabling description for these embodiments. Oneskilled in the art will understand that the invention may be practicedwithout such details. In other instances, well-known structures andfunctions have not been shown or described in detail to avoidunnecessarily obscuring the description of the embodiments.

Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout thedescription and the claims, the words “comprise,” “comprising,” and thelike are to be construed in an inclusive sense as opposed to anexclusive or exhaustive sense; that is to say, in the sense of“including, but not limited to.” Words using the singular or pluralnumber also include the plural or singular number respectively.Additionally, the words “herein,” “above,” “below” and words of similarimport, when used in this application, shall refer to this applicationas a whole and not to any particular portions of this application. Whenthe claims use the word “or” in reference to a list of two or moreitems, that word covers all of the following interpretations of theword: any of the items in the list, all of the items in the list and anycombination of the items in the list.

The present invention comprises a plurality of raised portions 12 on theexterior 20 of a container 10. Each raised portion 12 is located on theexterior 20 of the container 10 and is associated with specific indicia14. The raised portions 12 will enable the consumer of the container 10to identify the contents of the container 10 as well as personalize thecontainer 10. As such, when the consumer misplaces their container 10amongst similar containers 10, they will be able to recognize their ownby identifying their own personalized pattern (FIG. 2).

Each raised portion 12 will comprise a convex shape extending outwardfrom the container 10. Each raised portion 12 can be depressed 16,transposing the outward facing convex protrusion into an inward-facingconcave intrusion. Once depressed 16, the raised portions 12 may changecolor. For example, the raised portions 12 may become white or blueafter being depressed 16 due to the compression of the raised portion 12material. Shapes comprise a circle 30, oval 30, triangle 32, rectangle34, polygon 34, star 36, or other suitable shape. The shapes may alsorepresent a character, symbol, logo 38, or other design. In analternative embodiment, each shape will include a small protrusion 26 atits center to further remind the user to depress the shape when theyfeel the protrusion.

Each raised portion 12 is associated with a specific indicia 14.Examples of indicia 14 include letters, numbers, words, phrases,characters, logos, teams, days, months, years, astrological signs, orother suitable indicia 14. Typically, the user will personalize thecontainer 10 with a word 28, phrase, birthday, phone number, code,favorite character, favorite team, or any combination of the above. Theindicia 14 will either be pressed 28 onto the container 10 independentof the raised portion 12, be embossed 29 onto the raised portion 12itself, or be printed on the container 10 or label.

FIGS. 1 through 4 illustrate the container 10 as a plastic bottle withan upper section 22 and a lower section 24. The raised portions 12 arestrategically placed on the exterior 20 of the bottle to encourage use.In FIGS. 1 and 2, the raised portions 12 are placed on the upper section22, or neck, where the user will typically grasp the bottle whentwisting the cap 18. In FIG. 3, the raised portions 12 are placed on thelower section 24, or body, where the user will typically hold the bottlewhen not drinking from it. The strategic placement will encourage theuse of the raised portions 12, especially when the user would haveforgotten to use them otherwise.

FIGS. 5 through 8 illustrate the container 10 as a can with an uppersection 42, lower section 44, and left 46 and right 48 sections. Theraised portions 12 are strategically placed on the exterior 20 of thecan to encourage use. In FIG. 5, the raised portions 12 are placed onthe upper section 42, or neck, where the user will typically grasp thecan when pulling the tab 26 to open the can. In FIG. 6, the raisedportions 12 are placed on the lower section 44, or body, where the userwill typically hold the can when drinking from it. Again, this willencourage the use of the raised portions 12 by reminding the user todepress them. The benefit of this will be increased use, and as such,less waste.

The raised portions 12 and indicia 14 will be arranged to encourage useand personalization. In one embodiment, the raised portions 12 andindicia 14 will represent several alphabet sets (A-Z) and several ofnumber sets (0-9), allowing the user to depress raised portions 12correlating with their initials and birth month (FIGS. 1, 5, 6). In analternative embodiment, the raised portions 12 and indicia 14 will bearranged like a keypad, allowing the user to create a unique pattern(FIG. 2). In a further alternative embodiment, the raised portions 12and indicia 14 will be arranged to create interesting or provocativesentences, having a subject set, verb set, and object set in sequence(FIG. 3). In an even further alternative embodiment, the raised portions12 and indicia 14 will represent a month set, day set, year set, andzodiac set to indicate a birthday and astrological sign (FIG. 3).

In one embodiment, the exterior 20 of the container 10 is divided for aspecific contest, sporting event, television show, theme park, or othermeans of division (FIG. 7). For example, a can may be divided into left46 and right 48 sections, the left 46 representing team one and theright 48 representing team two. Each side will include a raised portion12 and an embossed team logo 38, as well as other designs to furtherdistinguish the sections 46, 48 of the can. The embossed logo 38 may bedepressible along with the raised portion 12. In another example, a canmay be split into four or more sections, each representing a characteron a television series or group, and each including an embossed logo 38and a raised portion 12.

While a particular form of the invention has been illustrated anddescribed, it will be apparent that various modifications can be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Forexample, the raised portions 12 may be placed on any acceptablecontainer 10. Furthermore, the indicia 14 and arrangements can beassociated with any television show, theme park, sporting event,competition, or the like, and can be arranged in any way in order toencourage the use of the raised portions 12. Accordingly, it is notintended that the invention be limited, except as by the appendedclaims.

Particular terminology used when describing certain features or aspectsof the invention should not be taken to imply that the terminology isbeing redefined herein to be restricted to any specific characteristics,features, or aspects of the invention with which that terminology isassociated. In general, the terms used in the following claims shouldnot be construed to limit the invention to the specific embodimentsdisclosed in the specification, unless the above Detailed Descriptionsection explicitly defines such terms. Accordingly, the actual scope ofthe invention encompasses not only the disclosed embodiments, but alsoall equivalent ways of practicing or implementing the invention.

The above detailed description of the embodiments of the invention isnot intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the preciseform disclosed above or to the particular field of usage mentioned inthis disclosure. While specific embodiments of, and examples for, theinvention are described above for illustrative purposes, variousequivalent modifications are possible within the scope of the invention,as those skilled in the relevant art will recognize. Also, the teachingsof the invention provided herein can be applied to other systems, notnecessarily the system described above. The elements and acts of thevarious embodiments described above can be combined to provide furtherembodiments.

All of the above patents and applications and other references,including any that may be listed in accompanying filing papers, areincorporated herein by reference. Aspects of the invention can bemodified, if necessary, to employ the systems, functions, and conceptsof the various references described above to provide yet furtherembodiments of the invention.

Changes can be made to the invention in light of the above “DetailedDescription.” While the above description details certain embodiments ofthe invention and describes the best mode contemplated, no matter howdetailed the above appears in text, the invention can be practiced inmany ways. Therefore, implementation details may vary considerably whilestill being encompassed by the invention disclosed herein. As notedabove, particular terminology used when describing certain features oraspects of the invention should not be taken to imply that theterminology is being redefined herein to be restricted to any specificcharacteristics, features, or aspects of the invention with which thatterminology is associated.

While certain aspects of the invention are presented below in certainclaim forms, the inventor contemplates the various aspects of theinvention in any number of claim forms. Accordingly, the inventorreserves the right to add additional claims after filing the applicationto pursue such additional claim forms for other aspects of theinvention.

1. A customizable container comprising: an exterior surface; a pluralityof raised portions located on the exterior surface, wherein each raisedportion protrudes outward from the exterior surface in a convex shape;and a plurality of indicia associated with the raised portions; wherebythe raised portions can be depressed, transposing the convex outwardprotrusion into a concave inward intrusion.
 2. The customizablecontainer of claim 1, wherein the container is a plastic bottle havingan upper section and a lower section, where the upper section is definedas the neck of the plastic bottle and the lower section is defined asthe body of the bottle.
 3. The customizable container of claim 1,wherein the container is a metal can having an upper section, a lowersection, a left section, and a right section, where the upper section isdefined as the neck of the can, the lower section is defined as the bodyof the can, the left section is defined as the left half of the bottomsection, and the right section is defined as the right half of thebottom section.
 4. The customizable container of claim 2, wherein theraised portions are located on the upper section and are associated withindicia which are arranged like a keypad for the consumer to create aunique pattern.
 5. The customizable container of claim 2, wherein theraised portions are located on the upper section and are associated withindicia which represent a month set, day set, year set, and zodiac setto indicate a birthday and astrological sign.
 6. The customizablecontainer of claim 2, wherein the raised portions are located on thelower section and are associated with indicia which represent a subjectset, a verb set, and an object set, wherein the consumer will arrangethe words to create interesting or provocative sentences.
 7. Thecustomizable container of claim 3, wherein the raised portions arelocated on the upper section and are associated with indicia whichrepresent a plurality of alphabet sets and a plurality of number sets.8. The customizable container of claim 3, wherein the raised portionsare located on the lower section and are placed where the consumer'sfingers will make contact with the can when consuming the beverage. 9.The customizable container of claim 3, wherein the left section isassociated with one team and the right section is associated with anopposing team, and wherein each section has at least one raised portionand at least one embossed logo representing the respective team.
 10. Thecustomizable container of claim 1, wherein the raised portions comprisea small protrusion at their center to alert the consumer to depress theraised portion.
 11. The customizable container of claim 1, wherein theshape of the raised portions comprise a rectangular shape, a triangularshape, a symbol, or a logo.
 12. A method for customizing a container,comprising the steps of: providing a container with an exterior surface;providing an arrangement of raised portions located on the exteriorsurface, wherein each raised portion protrudes outward from the exteriorsurface in a convex shape; providing a small protrusion at the center ofeach raised portion; providing indicia associated with the raisedportions; depressing the raised portions in a manner to transpose theconvex outward protrusion into a concave inward intrusion; and creatinga pattern or otherwise distinguishing the container from similarcontainers.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the container is aplastic bottle having an upper section and a lower section, where theupper section is defined as the neck of the plastic bottle and the lowersection is defined as the body of the bottle.
 14. The method of claim12, wherein the container is a metal can having an upper section, alower section, a left section, and a right section, where the uppersection is defined as the neck of the can, the lower section is definedas the body of the can, the left section is defined as the left half ofthe bottom section, and the right section is defined as the right halfof the bottom section.
 15. The method of claim 13, wherein the raisedportions are located on the upper section and are associated withindicia which are arranged like a keypad for the consumer to create aunique pattern.
 16. The method of claim 13, wherein the raised portionsare located on the upper section and are associated with indicia whichrepresent a month set, day set, year set, and zodiac set to indicate abirthday and astrological sign.
 17. The method of claim 13, wherein theraised portions are located on the lower section and are associated withindicia which represent a subject set, a verb set, and an object set,wherein the consumer will arrange the words to create interesting orprovocative sentences.
 18. The method of claim 14, wherein the raisedportions are located on the upper section and are associated withindicia which represent a plurality of alphabet sets and a plurality ofnumber sets.
 19. The method of claim 14, wherein the raised portions arelocated on the lower section and are placed where the consumer's fingerswill make contact with the can when consuming the beverage.
 20. Themethod of claim 14, wherein the left section is associated with one teamand the right section is associated with an opposing team, and whereineach section has at least one raised portion and at least one embossedlogo representing the respective team.